Dr. Eugenia Duodu Addy like most Black people had to fight gender and racial stereotypes to get to where she’s at today. Dr. Addy remembers as early as 16 when she told her guidance councillor that she was fascinated with science d that she wanted to pursue science in university. The guidance councillor ha the audacity to tell her that science might be too hard for her and that she should look into cosmetology as an option.
Dr. Duodu Addy was Born in Canada to Ghanaian parents and grew up in Toronto community housing on the west-end of Toronto. She was an only child to single parent household. Her strong willed mother was her role model, advocate and defender. Because of her mother Dr. Addy never approached school thinking it was hard but not everyone was as encouraging.
Today, Dr Eugenia Duodu Addy holds a HB.Sc. in Chemistry and Biology and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Toronto. She is also the CEO of Visions of Science, a community-based network that supports children and youth in low-income neighbourhoods by encouraging them to study STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at school..
Dr. Duodu Addy is determined that the youth in these communities not be shut out of the lucrative careers found in the STEM fields because of economic, social and systemic barriers. Vision of Science is now a registered charity with a $1 million annual budget and offers an ecosystem of support to over 1500 students in over 29 low income communities.